Last week we started our journey with Artaban, the Other Magi, based on the book by Henry van Dyke. Artaban saw a sign—a new star, that he along with Casper, Melchoir, and Balthazar determined foretold the rising of a new king in Judea. His friends in Ecbatana, Persia discount the sighting and refuse to join him.
Undeterred, Artaban sets out on his horse Vasda for his
meeting with the other three. Van Dyke says, “[he] must ride wisely and well if
he would keep the appointed hour with the other Magi.” Even when he passes
Babylon he still has three hours to reach the “Temple of the Seven Spheres” by
midnight. In the date-palm grove Vasda senses something—or someone. It is a dying
man lying in the road. This stranger grasps Artaban’s robe in plea.
Artaban races toward the meeting with his friends, but
indeed arrives too late. He finds a note saying they have departed, “Follow us
across the desert.” In despair, Artaban knows he must “return to Babylon, sell
my sapphire…only God the merciful knows whether I shall not lose the sight of
the King because I tarried to show mercy.”
Even though he is a Magi, a member of a learned and
religious class, Artaban wonders if his actions have ruined his quest. In the
Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus applauds the actions of the man who stopped
to help a wounded stranger. After telling the story, Jesus asks, “Which of
these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of
robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus
told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)
I think it is easy to think we must follow a set series of
steps and neat rules to ‘find God.’ We can forget that God is in the stranger,
in the lost, in the frightened or forgotten, even in the seemingly detestable;
as much as in the holiest of Cathedrals. When we begin to understand that
truth, it is an epiphany of sorts. Throughout his journey, we’ll see that
Artaban has many epiphanies.
Br. Jim Woodrum notes,
“Epiphanies seem to be random, but they are not. They build over time until the
last little bit of information is gathered, and the picture comes fully into
focus. Epiphany means ‘manifestation’…I would say that our spiritual pilgrimage
is about ‘response.’ We do not usually undertake a dangerous and costly journey
on our own volition. Rather, it is something we are called to, a mission that
has already been set in motion. The wise [men’s] journey was a response to a
mission that was set in motion by God.”
Artaban’s quest is just beginning, and so is each of our faith
journeys. Br. Woodrum says, we seek in “response to God who has called you
out of inertia through your desire—a desire for meaning, a desire for
peace, a desire for love, or simply a desire to know God as you are known by
God.”
What is your desire?
How do you hope God will be manifest in your life’s Epiphany
at this time?
